Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita attacked the state attorney disciplinary commission this week, accusing it of “aiding and abetting his political detractors.”
The accusation comes in Rokita’s response to the commission’s request for the state Supreme Court to make public Rokita’s confidential disciplinary agreement.
The court approved an agreement in November between the commission and Rokita that said he committed misconduct. It highlighted his cooperation as a reason for the discipline's leniency.
The discipline stemmed from comments made by the attorney general about Dr. Caitlin Bernard after she publicly discussed providing abortion care to a 10-year-old Ohio rape victim.
Shortly after the court’s opinion, Rokita issued a statement denying any wrongdoing, arguing he only agreed to admit misconduct to “save a lot of taxpayer money and distraction.”
The disciplinary commission said those comments called into question Rokita’s sincerity and damage public perception of the attorney discipline system’s “integrity and justness.”
In response, Rokita denied defying the Supreme Court or contradicting the disciplinary agreement. Instead, he said the commission is caving to political pressure and is prejudiced against him.
The attorney general did not oppose making his confidential disciplinary agreement public, but said if the court does make that decision, all of the disciplinary commission's deliberations and meetings concerning Rokita should be made public.
If the commission’s request moves forward from here, the Supreme Court would hold a public hearing before making a decision whether to unseal the confidential agreement.
Brandon is our Statehouse bureau chief. Contact him at bsmith@ipbs.org or follow him on Twitter at @brandonjsmith5.